Fred Savage

You can still have a very productive, crime-free life when you're growing up in show business.

I always feel bad when people ask me questions. I always felt that I was a terrible interview because I don't have any problems with anyone, and I don't have a terrible past. Or I don't have any terrible problems to talk about that would make interesting articles.

I appreciate everything. I built my career from very humble beginnings. Every job I've had, every next rung on the ladder, I appreciate because I know where it started - I started doing Pac-Man vitamin commercials.

That's the whole reason I got into acting: I don't do this like some grown-ups have to do it, because they have families, and they have to make money. It's not my job. My dad works to support our family. So I just do it for fun.

Going to directing wasn't a reaction away from acting as much as it was a move towards something I always wanted to do. Ever since I was a kid, I was interested in the camera and how it worked and why one director would place it in this part of the room and then another would place it in that part of the room.

I think now I've established myself as a director, but starting out, I'd be foolish to think that every opportunity that came after 'The Wonder Years' didn't stem from 'The Wonder Years.' So I owe so much of everything for that show.

The persona of 'The Wonder Years' is something that's going to be with me forever. And I'm happy for that. It's nothing that I'd ever shy away from, and it makes me feel so good that it's something people still remember and talk about it and think of it so fondly.

I wasn't some sort of ingenue. I always saw myself as a lifer in this industry, and working as an actor on 'Wonder Years' was a first act.

Looking back at the 'Wonder Years,' I see things I did well, and I see things I did very, very badly.

Whether it's 1970, 1990, or 2010, kids will be going through the same experiences.

I think it is important to maintain a sense of self and confidence, not letting either falter for the sake of a particular part or project, no matter how great it might be.

I don't think that being an actor or being a performer at a young age leads to failures as an adult. There's a lot more success stories than I think people recognize.